


What Is Lost Must Not Be Lost Forever

by galileamoriartywatson



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Family, Foster Care, Lost Child, M/M, Magic, Mpreg, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Underage Sex, tony and loki settled down
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21809620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galileamoriartywatson/pseuds/galileamoriartywatson
Summary: "You're just going to give up searching for your child, when we've just begun! You bastard!", Loki paced back and forth, rage fuming every inch in his body."I am not giving up! I'm exhausted and so are you. I can't keep going on like this when we have children back at home waiting for us", Tony explained."What about the child we lost? What about him, Tony?"Tony stayed silent, he watched as his husband disappeared often to some other planet to search for their son who has been missing for seven years.PRESENT TIMETomas has just started a new internship with Stark Industries and his anxiety could've not chosen a better day. He meets the great Tony Stark and is surprised how the media has misrepresented him, he's not the asshole he expected. He meets his family and some of the avengers, but there was something odd about Mr. Stark's husband.He has never met Loki Stark before but something told him that he had meet him once."Really odd question. Have we meet before?", Loki asked as he shook the young man's hand."Funny, I was about to asked the same"
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter I

Tony and Pepper made the decision of running Stark Industries together, and how awful of an idea that was. Tony would be the face of the company, attend important dinner parties-and Pepper would actually do the work and attend important meetings. That is how things have been running for nearly a decade, the stocks were up but their relationship has never been more strained not even when they were dating.

The Stark Internship has been made available to children with amazing intellectual abilities. Both Tony and Pepper have met children who see the future differently, they can both agree that that is the best part of their job. 

A new idea arose through the board of directors, The J.A.R.V.I.S. Internship. Tony is known for calling out bad ideas, he regrets not speaking earlier about this. He was too busy in Cabo with Loki. Pepper on the other hand, did not think it would fail at first but the more the directors went into detail the more it sounded like child labor. 

“The child, will not only get to work with Stark Industries, like the other interns, but they will view and follow both CEOs”, the directors smiled at what they thought was a grand idea.

“Okay- that idea sounds great, and I’m guessing it’s named after JARVIS because…”

“Because now the AI functions in every Stark manufacturer in the world. Mr. Stark has done such a great thing for this company”

“So the child’s position as the intern would be a copycat of JARVIS’ older and new position. A personal assistant to Tony Stark and the company”, Pepper didn’t mean it to sound as it did, but if there is one person who she didn’t trust with was Tony. 

“This intern will be paid of course for their extra work, Mrs. Potts. We wouldn’t have presented this idea to you if we didn’t think it would benefit the company”

“Yes, of course I understand but I can’t make this decision alone. I will have to talk to Mr. Stark after he comes back from his fifth vacation this month”, she smiled and excused herself. 

When Pepper introduced the idea to Tony, he was glad be would finally get someone to replace JARVIS. She rolled her eyes and tried desperately to explain that the child would not be  _ his  _ personal assistant. Tony chuckled and said that he was only teasing her for jokes. They both signed the papers and it was now up to JARVIS to spread the word out to all public and private schools. 

In the new age were changed were happening, Pepper made it very clear that she did not want a privileged child to be the intern that bought their way to the spot. She wanted someone who wanted to work and showed commitment. Not that she was being picky, but she wanted to show that the company wants all children from different financial backgrounds to feel included. 

Within a week they had received over 50,000 applications from all fifty states. Pepper begged JARVIS to read all the essays and resumes, and to draw them short to 20,000. Tony read his share of profiles and found that most kids from the ‘good’ schools came from money. Some thought that just their last name could get them their position and didn’t turn in their academic records. He trashed at least a thousand of those immediately. 

After long three months Pepper, Tony and JARVIS all came down to their number one contender. They had been discussing the last three candidates for over a month. Tony nodded at everything Pepper was saying and while he was making a sandwich. Pepper noticed.

“I do care, Pep”, Tony tried to defend himself as he spread the mayo.

“Oh do you. Well then, name the three candidates”

“Morgan, Peter, and Leon”

“Those are your children’s names, Tony”, Pepper crosses her arms at her chest and gave him a disappointing look.

“Yes, and I will treat whatever child you pick as my own”, he kisses the top of her head and left the room with a sandwich at hand.

“Tony, we have to make this decision together!”

“Yes, but you make better ones”, he exited.

So there she was with three perfect candidates in front of her, two girls and one boy. She had considered playing with their luck at a coin toss, but that was too unprofessional. She has gone with her choice since Tony could care less about his. She placed his file as the winner and told Jarvis to announce the decision to the board and to the boy through email.

Tony loved his job don’t get him wrong, but there were days were he did not want to do it. It’s an odd feeling that most people said was called laziness. It was not that, he feels confident enough to say that it’s not laziness.

“Than explain it to me, Anthony. Why don’t you want to work?”, Loki passed him a glass of whiskey and stretch his legs on top of Tony’s thighs.

“Depression?”

“You’re not depressed, Anthony”, Loki chuckled as he laid back on the couch.

“Oh and you have a degree in psychiatry, so you would know, correct?”, he took a sip of his glass.

Loki rose up quickly to meet his husbands eyes, “I know plenty of depression to know actual symptoms. I would encourage you to stop comparing your lazy arse to people who actually suffer from it”

“I’m not lazy, I- I just don’t know what to do”, he left his head drop back.

“You are the most powerful man on Earth and you are telling me that you’re bored”, Loki sounded exasperated.

“Yes”, he closed his eyes. Tony tried to hide somewhere in his head but knew there was no chance, he felt eyes on him. “I love you but you need to stop staring at me”

“Did you know that the anniversary is coming up?”, Loki spoke softly.

That was enough to send Tony off the couch and into the hallway without a glance at Loki. He went to his office, where he spent all night doing 'work'. Morgan and Peter went down there to help him, but Tony turned his kids away. 

"Please dad, I'm bored", Morgan pouted.

"No, kiddo, you can take your brothers out if you want- here's some cash", Tony started to pull out multiple fifty dollar bills from his pocket and hands them to Morgan.

She glances at them with a frown, "Dad, its eight o'clock on a Tuesday"

"So?"

"Dad, would never let us out this late on a school night", Peter responded as he played with a spared iron man suit part.

Tony snatched it away and responded, "Well if you tell your dad to get his head out of his ass, I'm sure he'll let you out"

The Stark children were used to their parents teased each other like this, they could usually tell that the insults were jokes. Their father's dry, cold tone was far from comical. So they left it at that and took the money and saved it for another time. Peter swore to Morgan not to say anything, and he didn't need an explanation as they all knew the anniversary was coming up. 

Loki called Pepper the next morning when all the children went off to school and Tony was asleep. Pepper had understood and forgotten that it was nearly the anniversary. She tried to explain herself and her guilt but Loki didn’t want to hear it as he understood. They talked for a little longer but Pepper had to leave as she had a meeting about the new intern.

Loki's day was just like the day before. Good day's occur when Tony stayed home and avoided doing work, they would just cuddle up in bed until noon, not being bothered about anything in the world. Bad days occur when he would have to be Iron Man. Loki admires his strength but despises him for his arrogance towards his ability to get hurt. He loves Tony through the good and bad days, and it is through the bad days when he appreciates his husband more in the good ones. 

As the anniversary gets closer, Loki comes to appreciate all the good in Tony as well as the bad. He cherishes everything that makes his honorable man Iron Man, and an amazing father to his children.

When the children came back home, Peter was more than delighted to show off his new LEGO rocket he built with Ned. Morgan and Leon went straight to their rooms with barely saying hi to their dad. Loki finally had a chance to talk to all his children at dinner.

“Where’s dad?”, Morgan asked.

“He had a meeting about the youth internship, he’ll be home soon”

“Okay”

“Actually”, his tone caught his children’s attention, “as you know it’s nearly the anniversary-“

“As it was last year- please don’t tell me that’s why dad is acting weird. He does this every year, he has to move on already. We all have”, Leon continues to roll his eyes and leave the table.

“Easier said than done,” Peter spoke up in his father’s defense.

“It’s been sixteen years!”

“Leon- please do not start this again. Your father suffered-“

“Yes, but you suffered more and yet you are keeping yourself in better shape than he is,'' he was done with his argument and went to his room.

Peter and Morgan left after that in silence, trying to make zero noise. Loki pushes his unfinished meal away from him, all his hunger stripped from him. He lets his children rant and scream all they want about the subject because he has run out of breath himself. He prays that one say so will they.

Yet, his mind clouds him with this sick figure, a shadow comes and goes, especially around the anniversary. Loki dreads looking up and meeting those green eyes. He walks away but in the corner of his eye he sees it follow him. Loki tries to remind himself that there is nothing beyond the dark figure beside the sparkling light- green eyes, and a shy smile. It waits for him to see him, to pay him attention. He doesn't and waits to sleep when Tony gets home. The shadow stays protectively guards the door. 

Pepper, Tony, and the board members have been waiting for forty- five minutes for Happy and the kid to arrive. Tony had been spamming Happy for last thirty to hurry his ass up or he'd fire him, but he knew Happy would call his bluff. Six old men being kept from their daily afternoon golf is not a good picture, neither Tony or Pepper could keep them calm. 

To say the truth, Pepper and Tony were also running out of patience but unfortunately they didn't have much of a choice. And so they sat there for another thirty minutes waiting for them both. 

"So... how's the kiddo? Still into gymnastics?", Tony tried to pass the time.

"Yup", she answered with her attention on her phone.

"And the other one still liking rocks?"

Pepper sighed and shut off her phone to glance at Tony with a small smile, "Tony, their names are Harmony and Henry and if you don't mind I am trying to run an international meeting through text messages"

Tony stayed silent for a while. "I know their names, Pep-"

"Tony- don't", her eyes were threatening.

"Okay", he threw his hands up in defense and sighed once more. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to have dinner with me and the family, you know bringing your kids and husband. Like we used to do back in the good old days"

Pepper's fingers slowed on the screen in her smartphone, a slight smile appeared on her face. She glanced up and nodded, "I would love that, and I'm sure that the kids would too. They miss Loki and the kids"

"Me too, right?"

She tilted her head to the side with an unsure face, "Well-"

They both laughed, but their time was cut short by the opening of the doors. Happy rushed in panting, pointing behind him as he tried to speak through his ragged breathing. 

Tony went by his side, "Okay pal, you did your job, now let me do mine", he pointed at the receptionist, "Get him some water please"

"The kid is here- somewhere", Happy panted and took a seat.

"I'm here!", a young man appeared through the doors, he seemed to be following Happy's pace as he too was panting. "Sorry, there was so much traffic,” he sounded desperate to be understood.

"No need, we all know how hectic New York traffic can be", Pepper smiled warmly and stood her hand out for him to shake. "Pepper Potts and this is Tony Stark, co- CEOs of Stark Industries, it is a pleasure to meet you"

He inhaled to compose himself and adjusted a big, yet shy smile on his face, "Tomas Rey, pleasure is all mine".


	2. Chapter II

Happy had gotten to the kids apartment building early to bear traffic, to his surprise the kid had been waiting in the doorsteps for the car to arrive. 

Happy rolled down the window and called at him, “Hey kid, your Tomas Rey, correct?”

The boy made no hesitation to gather himself up and quickly stood by the car, “Yes sir, that’s me”

“Flash me ID real quick”

The kid reached into his pocket and showed him his school ID from his freshman year, it was quite embarrassing as his hair was sticking up in all the wrong directions. You can tell he had no sleep last night by the under bags that highlighted his pale face. The chauffeur frowned at it and looked up at the kid. “I was sick that day”, he tried to explain himself. 

He didn’t seem to care and the ID was enough for him, he let Tomas in the car and like most of half of the population that haven’t been inside a Rolls Royce he began to touch the ceiling. It had flashing red and gold lights, and for a still second green lights appeared with a flash of gold. The pattern continued to be.

“It’s beautiful”, Tomas complimented, he gently felt the fabric that was worth more than his life and all his valuables combined. 

“Yeah, Mr. Stark had the lights switch barely a week ago so be careful back there”

That made him stop touching the ceiling, he glanced around the leather seats and noticed that they had the same pattern colors as the ceiling. The driver's seat followed the red and gold pattern, the passengers seat followed the green and gold pattern, the back seats were different as all three followed the color patterns. Red, gold and green would intertwined to make a beautiful family crest. A scepter and the arc reactor made an ‘x’ at the center of it, the surroundings were four letters. ‘M’, ‘L’, ‘E’, and ‘P’, written in elegant cursive font. 

“Mr. Stark sure does have good taste”, Tomas traced the crest as gently as he could to not ruin the craftsmanship’s work.

“Expensive taste you mean”, Happy teased.

Tomas laughed and turned around fully to face the nameless chauffeur, “What is your name, sir”

“Happy Hogan, nice to meet you”, his right hand let go of the steering wheel to grasp the boys hand. 

“Likewise, sir”

“Happy. Call me Happy”, he glance from the rear view mirror.

“Is that your actual name?”, he chuckled. “Not to be rude or anything, but it’s a unique name”

“I get that all the time, yeah it’s my real name. Is Tomas your real name?”

“Yeah, its ‘Tomas’ without an H, so please don’t misspell my name”

Happy cringed and reached for the bag that sat in the passenger's seat, “Then you're not gonna like what’s in there”

Tomas took it and saw that it was a mix of a gift and welcome goody bag, there was a lanyard with his new ID badge ‘Thomas Rey”, he shook his head with a smile.

“Sorry, kid, I promise to fix it when we get there”

Tomas relaxed and sat back on the leather seats. He lived in The Bronx region of New York, south Bronx to be exact. Happy really did hesitate to bring the car all the way down there, but Tony was eager to make the kid welcome to the family. The streets weren’t slums that people portrayed them to be, not they weren’t hundred percent safe but Tomas can bet that neither was Mr. Stark’s multi-million dollar mansion. 

Since summer started there have no kids in the streets permitting Happy to take a faster route out of the Bronx and into the city. They were met with traffic, a lot of traffic. Happy had called Mr. Stark saying that.

“How mad will they be?”, Tomas asked as he followed Happy to the elevator in a rush.

Happy turned to his and started to patch him up by slicking his hair back, fixing up his black button up shirt. “Wear a tie next time, more professional”

“I don’t have a tie”, his voice in a panic as he put on his lanyard.

“That’s fine, just smile. Don’t worry I’ll take the blame”, the elevator stopped on their floor and he started to jog with Tomas right behind him. 

Happy knew the layout of this building like the back of his hand and yet he couldn’t find the office. He and the kid had been pacing back and forth for ten minutes until Happy finally recognized the receptionist. She saw them both and without words stood up to open the doors. 

“Where’s the boy?”, she asked herself, glancing around.

A few seconds later a kid panting with a scared look on his face appeared at the end of the hallway. She called him and he jogged, she cleared his sweat with a tissue and shoved him. 

Tomas wanted to apologize more about this tardiness but he had to introduce himself to all board of directors. He sat there for nearly two hours as they told him the rules and guidelines of what his job in detail will be. He was determined to keep awake as the oldest person in the room, with the patience of God, was giving the presentation. Mr. Stark had noticed his sleepy eyes, he decided to poke the side of his stomach. Tomas jumped out of his skin and sat on his seat, luckily no one besides Mr. Stark saw him. He mouthed an apology to his new boss, instead of getting the stink eye, his boss laughed. He whispered, “I’m trying my hardest to stay awake through this godforsaken meeting. Want to sneak out”

“I can’t, the meeting is for me, sir”, Tomas frowned with a shake of his head. 

Tony proceed to stand up and speak to the board of directors, “Gentlemen, I know that you all have no desire to be here, including you Pepper. I propose that we all leave and enjoy the rest of our Monday morning elsewhere”

“But Mr. Stark, we have to go through all the rules”

“I created half of them, I’m sure I can get through all of them with him”, Tony patted the kid’s shoulder to stand up, “Now, if you excuse me, we are going out”

Tomas looked to his other boss Mrs. Potts, who looked equally as baffled as the rest of the table. She followed both of them to the elevator, “Tony, what are you doing?”

“Our new intern was falling asleep in there-”

“I wasn’t, Mrs. Potts”

“I came to his rescue and taking him out to breakfast, like to join us?”, Tony waited for the elevator doors, with the boy in the middle of both. Glancing back and forth as the discussion occurs. 

“Tony, it’s 11:30, where will you get breakfast?”

“Breakfast diner, duh”

“Tony- Mr. Rey has to learn his way through the building if he is going to be working with us”, she smiled so kindly towards Tomas, he almost didn’t think it was directed to him. 

“He has three months to learn, and I’m sure he will learn his way around within the week. Kid needs a break, besides I plan to be the fun boss”

The elevator doors opened and all three squeezed themselves in with the other five people. “ _Fun boss_ , what does that even mean? There’s no such thing as a fun boss”

“At least not in this company”, Tony murmured under his breath.

“What is that supposed to mean? I do more than what I should for this company-”

Tony and Pepper continued to fight all the 60- floors down, with employees coming and leaving but they all left in a rush. One of them slipped Tomas a note saying ‘I’d quit now before it’s too late’, he ignored it and trashed it in his pocket. 

“Pepper, I told you I was sorry about that. How many times do I have to say it?”

“I trusted you with that and you failed to do it, like always. So tell me, why should I trust you with him”, they turned to Tomas who was extremely uncomfortable. 

“Because those were papers, and this is a child. I don’t fail kids that are under my watch, and he for the next three months is under _our_ watch. I just want the kid to have fun, Pep”, he sighed with a silent plea. 

“Mrs. Potts, if i may interrupt- I don’t think one innocent breakfast will ruin my work ethic for the next three months. After we are done, I promise to head back as soon as possible to finish off the presentation”, he spoke firmly.

“It’s not you I am worried about”, she placed her hand on his shoulder and lightly squeezed, “It’s your child-like boss”

Tony and Pepper had a small staring competition, but Tony had broken it off and dragged the kid with him. They got in the Rolls Royce from earlier, “So kid, what you craving?”

“Isn’t too late to get breakfast?”

“Society says that, but I say that a breakfast biscuit is breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So tell me, what does”, he reaches for his ID, “Thomas King, desire today?”

Tomas desperately wanted to tell Mr. Stark that even the smell of food makes him sick at this very moment, but he doesn’t want to diminish the smile that Mr. Stark is giving him. He can’t think of any food besides fruits that won’t make him sick, yet he still ends up saying, “...pancakes?”

It seemed that Mr. Stark was eager to get pancakes, he ignored all speed limits and probably committed three crimes in the span of twenty minutes. Tomas was expecting a Denny’s, IHOP maybe even a Bubby’s but oddly enough they were in what Tomas could guess, Mr. Stark’s house. 

“What are we doing here, sir?”, he closed the door carefully, not wanting to leave a scratch. 

“You said you wanted pancakes, and lucky for you, my husband made some this morning. He uses this great recipe that he came up with, and well as for the taste- they will speak for themselves”

In the outside, the townhouse looked an average home but stepping inside seemed like a castle. Tomas had never been in a house as luxurious as this one, everything around him looked breakable by the glance. It was ten times smaller than his Malibu beach house, but maybe his husband hated big houses. Not saying that this one was small. 

Tomas had seen read articles online about this house, the price, how many beds and baths, the beautiful view of the city, etc. It was a breathtaking house and commoners like him were enchanted by everything in sight. 

“JARVIS, I’m home and I brought a lovely guest with me”, he winked back at Tomas. 

“Welcome home, sir, and welcome Mr. Rey, I hope that your stay at Stark Industries goes well”

“Thank you, thank you, you’re the AI that the internship was named after, right?”, Tomas decided to asked a hideously, dumb question just to end his quietness.

“That is correct”

“So kiddo, here they are”, there was a whole stack of uneaten pancakes, from a distance they looked like perfect pancakes that commercials tried to sell to its customers. As he got closer he saw that they had chocolate chip in them but sprinkled with cinnamon. Although cold, they smelled so sweet, it made him gag. It was not Mr. Stark’s cooking, it was just food overall today that made him sick. 

“Grab as many as you’ll like, my ungrateful kids can’t appreciate them”, Tony grabbed two plated and dunked five pancakes in each plate, placing them in the microwave, “Someone has to, and that’s us”

“Won’t your husband get mad?”

Tony arched his eyebrow, “Why would he get mad? He would be grateful someone besides me is eating all the food. Milk? Orange Juice?”

“Water, please”, he took a seat on the kitchen counter top, waiting for his pancakes.

“Water with pancakes, should I be afraid of you?”, he teased.

“No, sadly god didn’t bless me with the ability to physically hurt another being”

The microwave went off, which distracted him from answering. He gave him a plate and took out the syrup, without asking for permission he bathed both of their pancakes in them. Tomas gulped and stared at them.

“So, is this really how you want to spend your summer vacation?”, Tony spoke a mouthful of pancakes.

“Better than being at home”, he stared down at his plate and stab down all five pancakes. 

“You rather work than relax, gosh, you’re going to be Pepper’s little protege”, he rubbed his face. 

“Is it that bad that I am”, he shove a small piece and quickly swallowed it before his taste buds kicked in. 

“No, but I want you to have fun. That’s why I got you out of that meeting, I will be the fun boss that. Pepper on the other hand will be boring boss, we don’t like Pepper”, Tony talked slowly at the last part.

Tomas laughed at Mr. Stark, the man was a character and nothing what the magazines portrayed. He was glad that he was proven wrong from everything he thought he would be. Tomas was surprised at himself, he got so comfortable around a stranger, a man more importantly, so quickly. Thoughts did fog his mind about different scenarios that could’ve played out in Mr. Stark’s house. He is still inside the house and probably alone, he prays to whoever is listening that this man is the man that he is portraying. So many people lie to him, so help him if one more does. 

“Is your husband here?”, he glanced around for any sign of someone else.

“He texted me earlier about going grocery shopping, he should be back soon”

Tomas nodded and went back to slowly eating his food. 

“Kid, just to make sure that everything’s cool between us, you don’t have a problem right?”, his question sounded serious to him as he dropped his fork and turned his upper torso towards Tomas.

“About what?”

“Me and my husband, you know us two being gay with kids. That won’t be a problem, right?”

He immediately shook his head, “I wouldn’t have applied if I did, besides I believe as long as the kids are in a safe environment, who cares who’s raising them”

“Okay great, ‘cause I actually like you and I we are going to be spending a lot of time in my house around my family”, he tried to explain.

“We are?”, Tomas tried his best not to act as panicked as he was. 

“Yeah, I mostly work at home whereas Pepper works at the office and travels to meetings. You won’t go to any out of town meetings so you won’t worry about that. Oh yes, the schedule is Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are when you report to Pepper at the office. Thursday to Saturday are my days and you will usually report here unless I tell you not to, but I doubt it. Sunday’s are your days to relax. I can’t think of anything else for now” 

“Alright, let me write that down on my phone”, Tomas pulled out his phone as if nothing but as he was typing he began to hide it away from Mr. Stark. It was an old samsung model that no one has heard off, it had a cracked screen that ran from the bottom to the left hand side of the screen. It could be worse, he could have nothing. 

“I see that there is more than one person who appreciates my cooking”

Mr. Stark’s husband entered the room with both hands loaded with a months worth of groceries. Tomas turned around and gave a shy but kind smile to him. 

That’s when Loki stood frozen.

It was a restless night for Loki, he hated knowing that people were getting there slumber. There he was standing in front of the glass, seeing how the city was wide awake with him. He paced around the house wondering up and down all the hallways trying to shake it off, but there it was, at every turn. 

He would stop at the children’s rooms to check up on them and as expected all three were sound asleep. Morgan was surrounded with sheets of paper, drawings, sketches of her own inventions. Loki smiled as he studied the notes, they didn’t quite make sense to him as her ideas were scattered everywhere, but he can’t wait until she shows him. She is gifted with her father’s brilliant mind and stubbornness. From her hair to her eyes, her ambition were all the mirror image of her father. When he would miss Tony, his daughter would remind him that he was not so far away from his husband. He kissed her goodnight and left.

Leon was on his stomach and with his head under the pillow when Loki found him. He fixed up his position and found that he had left his music playing, he removed them and plugged his phone to charge. He always envied his view of the Brooklyn Bridge, which was cut short by his son shift in bed that made him almost fall. Loki was there to catch him in time, he surely got his deep sleep nature from his father. Loki lightly removed his light- brown hair from his face. 

He moved on to his youngest, Peter. He always found that boy nowhere near his bed, he always preferred to sleep on the floor for some odd reason. Peter laid in front of the TV with his video game on mute, and control in his hands. He had to wrestle the control out of his hands but eventually he carried him to the bed and spread him out properly. He stares at him and wishes that he would’ve stayed little. 

All of them, he wishes that he could snuggle against one of them as they sleep, but they would only hate him for it. For now, all he could do is love them from a distance to not embarrass them, he chuckles because he remembers how they all use to fight for his hugs and attention. Now, they’ve all drawn away, which is always the progress of parenthood but must time be so cruel. 

He leaves the room and pauses as he passes the last door, he holds on the door knob and presses his ear against it. Even though the room was dead silent Loki still urges for a small cry of a child. He waits for it but it never comes.

As he leaves he feels the shadows presence even stronger, almost asking why he didn’t go in. He felt left out. Loki ignores it and continues to walk around the house trying to ignore the shadow. He walks until his legs give out and he rests on the couch, it sits next to him, Loki gives in and glances at it. He smiles shyly, almost scared to do so. His green eyes glowed in the dark, they were so pure and kind that Loki wanted to snuggle the figure of his imagination. 

He closes his eyes and dreams of a small figure holding his hand and leading him to an endless meadow. He teaches him magic, and he claps in delight as the butterfly flies free. Loki, holds the child so close to him that he wakes up feeling the same pressure on his chest. He wipes the tears off and sees the time, the children don’t wake up until two hours so Loki decides to breakfast. A big breakfast. For who? His children eat very little much to his dislike. He just needed a distraction, anything at this point. 

When he is done with breakfast, he cleans the dishes and finds the floor dirty. JARVIS tried to remind him that the maid could do that, Loki ignored and he swept and mopped three entire floors before the children woke up.

He goes for a jog to act like a normal citizen, he tries to ignore all the head turnings. He was grateful that it was no longer because of what he had done to New York so many years ago. Nowadays, he is known to be Tony Stark’s husband that usually hide away from crowds up in the tower. 

He jogs back to the tower to find it empty and the stack of pancakes barely touched as expected. He at last found himself tired enough to sleep, he took a very quick shower and planted himself on the bed. As he was dozing off and finding peace, he felt the shadow appear above him. He dumbly threw a pillow at it and turned around, it of course did not work as it continued to lay next to him. Loki walked out of his room for the second time today. 

“Everything alright, sir”, JARVIS asked as he Loki in distress.

“Yes, I just remembered that I need to buy some groceries for dinner”

“I can send someone to do that”, the AI was brilliant in all ways but it lacked human comprehension, you’d think that Tony would’ve fixed that by now. 

“No, I want to go, thank you”, Loki dressed in all black but decided not to hide his face. 

He was in no absolute rush to finish the shopping, he strolled every isle calmly scanning all the merchandise that he didn’t need but contemplated on buying.

People recognized him of course and many little kids asked him questions about Iron Man, he couldn’t turn them down not even when the parents tried to pull their children away. He never wanted to be seen as the enemy by anyone, not in the beginning and certainly not in the end. 

He has tried to redeem himself among humanity who have given a home when he was banished from Asgard. He has become a public figure by working with charities, non- profit organizations, and even help Stark Industries better their image in founding small startups. Many have accepted him as who he has become but there are those who cannot forget who they have lost in the New York attack. Loki paid the price, he has done his penance. He just wanders how long his own mind will continue to torture him. 

He leaves the store with a cart full of food that he truly doesn’t need, yet he checks out with ten grocery bags. He dreads coming home to it being empty, so he checks his watch and counts down the hours till the children’s arrival. He hears talk coming from the kitchen, he recognizes Tony’s voice but the second voice was foreign and young. They are both seated in the counter with a stack of pancakes on their plates, he’s thankful he doesn’t have to waste food. 

Tony sees him and reaches for the grocery bags, but he doesn’t have a chance to introduce the young man because Loki had stood still. 

“Loki, let go of the bags, hon”, Tony pulled at the bags and grasped his wrist. 

Loki snapped out of it and let go, he apologized for that small inconvenience. The young man had not noticed at all, he brought out his hand and introduced himself as ‘Tomas Rey’. His smile was pure but there was something that was causing him pain, it was hidden, very well hidden. He was uncomfortable, it was physical and emotional pain. He had let his mind wander off into another subject, he focused on the one that made his blood tremble. 

His eyes. 

His _green_ eyes. The eyes that have been hunting him every night in this house. The eyes that the dark figure protect him with. He was sure that those were the eyes, but they couldn’t be, they weren’t _his_. 

Loki snapped out of trance and gripped his hand firmly, “Loki Stark”, he wanted to ask but thought it too weird of a question. Yet, he still asked, “Really odd question. Have we meet before?”

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same question”


	3. Chapter III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!!!

Tomas founded something off about Mr. Stark’s husband, maybe it was because he was an alien but he wasn’t racist. He seemed like a good man, ignoring what he did two decades to the city. He didn’t have enough time to examine the man’s entire life story as Mr. Stark told him it was time to head back to the office. 

He was kind of relieved they were leaving, he doesn’t have good experiences in entering a new house. He was grateful for Mr. Stark’s hospitality but strange houses give him the worst anxiety, of course he would never tell his boss that. Now that he knows he will be working here for most of his summer, he has to get over his anxiety he can’t deal with it right now.

When they arrive, it was three o’clock and Mrs. Potts had gone over everything that he didn’t get to before. Tomas had dozed off several times by staring at the papers pretending to listen. He wants to learn and do the best job he can, but why must there be so many rules.

“And that concludes everything, I just need for you to sign some papers and you are free to go or you are welcomed to stay if you please. All I need for you is to get a good night’s rest for your first day tomorrow”, she gave him a thick pile of papers in which she proceeded to point out signature lines. 

Tomas began to sign, “Wait, I thought today was my first day”

“Well today was more of us presenting you the rules you must follow, what is expected of you and so on so forth. But I highly doubt we will have any trouble with you, that’s why I let you go off with Mr. Stark”

Tomas smiled but stayed silent as he had no response, well he did but if he tripped over his words he would look like a fool. He signed eighteen pages in the end, he didn’t know what he was signing, he could’ve signed his life away and he wouldn’t know. Or care to be honest. He was excused as Mrs. Potts said he didn’t want to go home because Jacob would be there having a party at three in the afternoon on a Monday. He didn’t have any money except for the subway, to explore Manhattan. 

He had no choice but to stay in the building, he saw many other interns with their ID, they were different from his. They noticed as well. As he walked to the interns cafe, he remembered in the powerpoint that the food was free for him and to only flash his ID to the cafeteria staff. He saw all his options, but he felt sick at the glance. He only got the water that was free for everyone really, he took a seat at an empty table which gave him a beautiful view of the busy city. He could Mr. Stark’s house from here. 

Two kids came up to him, two girls, by the glance they didn’t look all that nice. 

“So you’re the new intern?”, the brown haired girl asked. She was dressed rather nicely, her hair slicked back into a ponytail, black pencil skirt with a soft baby blue blouse with black flats. Her friend behind her wore the same color patterns but wore pants instead. 

“Yeah, I’m Tomas Rey”, he stuck out his hand.

“Pleasure, I’m Emily and this is Rhea”, they shook hands, “Now that we have gotten greetings out of the way, we should talk”, the girls took a seat at his table. Their attitudes changed from polite to two- faced bitches. “The college students can’t tell you this because you’re minor but we can, so listen closely. You are no better than us because you work directly with the CEOs, we will not start taking orders from you, and the minute you start believing you are superior than us the whole entire staff of interns will not stop until you are removed. Are we clear, _Tomas_?”

He sighed, he didn't know what he should’ve expected out of two privileged girls when they came with their luxury brand clothing, diamond earrings and expensive perfumes. He can say that it wasn’t that. “Loud and clear”

“Good”, the other girl, Rhea, responded, “and just as a side note from us, you don’t deserve to be here. Mrs. Potts and Mr. Stark pitied you, your grades and achievements are good but you were chosen solely out of it, you shouldn’t be proud to be here at all. Our friend was one of the finalists, she was more than qualified, and then you came in with your sob story”

“Well I’m sorry about your friend, but I didn’t make the decision, the CEOs did. If you and the other interns have a problem with that, I would take it to them”, Tomas wanted nothing more than to get out of there, he glanced around to find the exit but found that almost everyone was looking at their table, he gulped. 

“We will, don’t worry. Now get off our table”, Emily responded, she didn’t take her eyes off of him and watched him take his leave. 

Even though he was the victim in the situation, he felt as if he was walking the walk of shame as he left the cafe. Everyone’s eyes were on him, most of them just had a blank expression as if saying they could care less, and so could Tomas. He was stopped at the door by some college student who gave him a note. He took it and left, it said “Quit or else”.

How fun. 

He obviously wasn’t wanted there so he left the building and wondered off until the sun was hitting the ground. He wasn’t looking at where he was walking as he had his head hung down staring at the pavement. The streets looked sort of familiar only because he had to pick up Jacob from the bars, and this street was especially busy with the escorts. He recognized several women who have left his apartment in the mornings, he waved hello at them. 

“You lost, Tommy? Or you looking for your daddy?”, Elvie asked. She was going to teacher her mid- thirties any year now but she still had her early twenties glam. 

“I got lost. I was wondering around and well… here I am”, he ran his hand through his hair and looked around the street. 

“Oh kiddo. You know your way back?”

“Yeah, ‘course I do”

“Good, I don’t want you coming here without a good excuse, ya hear?”, she said teasingly, motherly tone. 

Tomas smiled and nodded, he bid her well and turned to the route of the subway. It hasn’t been the first time while walking in these streets that he has been asked ‘how much for the night?’. In fact, he has said yes to some of them. He found out that his pretty face can be of good use to something, with the money he doesn’t go hungry and pays the bills.

He was asked that afternoon, if he hadn’t had his job with Stark Industries he would’ve said yes, but he wouldn’t get paid until three weeks from now. How long could he go on for with one meal per day if he stopped selling himself? His stomach answered that question immediately. 

Tomas was now angry at himself, he had two opportunities today to eat and yet everything made him sick, and now he’s hungry at the worst moment. Because he knew that if he is weak than so is his magic, and without his magic he can’t hide the scars, bruises, and the tired some features. He wanted to say no, he did, but he couldn’t risk his bosses finding bruises on this wrist or face. 

The man that came up to him had a wedding ring on (they always do), he was balding yet he looked fairly young. His clothing said that he was an average middle- class guy, who was repressing his sexuality or his disgusting peodeophilic dreams. 

Did Tomas care? No. As long as he got to eat, none of it was his business. 

They decided to stay at a cheap motel, and they guy wasn’t kidding on the cheap part. Tomas had a higher chance of catching a disease in the spreadsheets than the kid he was about to suck. 

The guy wasted no time and grabbed his wrist to spin his around and pin him against the wall. “How old are you really?”, he whispered gently as he brushed his face against the boy’s neck.

“Eighteen”

“Sure don’t look like it”

“Well let me show you”, he tugged himself out of the man’s grip and knelt on the floor to reach for the man’s belt. If he had a dollar for every time he had to be on his knees… well he would still be poor because he hates sucking a stranger’s dick. As he reached the button and zipper he braced himself for the most humiliating he forces himself to do. He takes the man’s penis out and licks the tip first which lights the spark in his client.

His dick wasn’t big so Tomas forced it all in his mouth without gagging, he sucked and sucked, making moaning voice to get the man to come. Nothing was making him come which made Tomas think that the man wanted more and that is what he absolutely dreaded.

“Stop, I don’t wanna come yet. Get on the bed”, the man pulled back his hair and quite harshly threw him to the edge of the bed. Tomas didn’t like to talk too much, he didn’t want any of this to seem real, they were just nightmares of his. He did as he was told and dozed off enough to not feel when the man unbutton his shirt and laid small kisses all over his chest, trailing them down to the pelvic section. His client spent a lot of time down there, he slowly undid his dressy pants with his underwear. He didn’t touch his at first but he did want to admire Tomas’ body for some sick reason, at one point he thought he heard him say ‘perfect’. 

He teased him, he peckered kisses around his penis and in his inner thighs, giving him no option than to react. He hates that more than sucking dick, why does he have to react to it? He doesn’t believe in that ‘it’s science’ crap, he was a fucking whore who likes to be voluntarily molested by pervs. 

When the man finally does get to his penis, he kisses the tip gently. Making Tomas thrust his hips forward as he held back a pathetic moan, and it just kept getting worse as the man kissed it more gently. He would lick it around and suck on the side of it but never take it in. Tomas was a moaning mess, he had to bite down on his wrist to make himself stop and just as he was about to come like the disgusting piece of shit that he is the man get on top of him and starts to rub their dicks together. God, how he hated that. He hated seeing their faces on top of him having a grand ol’ time while his treating to keep himself together from a panic attack just so he could get paid. 

He had to look on the bright side, at least he wasn’t in him. 

“Fuck-”, the man grabbed both his wrist and pinned them above him (he hated that), and thrusted at a slow pace. He could hear his uneasy breathing down his neck and ear, he used on hand to keep their penis’ together to rub against each other. As he did that his pace quickens, and Tomas’ erection vanished. He was now just there, staring at a moldy ceiling that looked ready to fall on them. He wouldn’t mind dying right now, but not like this, not with this poor excuse of a man on top of him. 

He kept thrusting and thrusting, you could hear the bed frame slightly hit the wall. When he came a sigh of joy and relieve came out of him and Tomas wanted to vomit as he felt hot, sticky liquid hit his thighs and most probably his nicest pair of pants. 

“Your a good fuck, kid”, the guy mentions as he his putting himself back into his pants and is searching for his wallet.

“Thanks”, says the trembling boy in the bed as he shaky fingers try to redo the buttons of his shirt. 

“Here”, he gives him a hundred and fifty dollars, Tomas’ tired eyes widen, he had never been given that crazy amount of cash before, “Here is my card if you ever wanna have fun again”

He left.

Tomas doesn’t know how long he sat there for, but when he snapped out of it the cum had dried on his pants and on the sheets. He sighs and stand on shaky legs to do his pants. It makes him laugh how he could change his mood so quick by not giving a single fuck. Why would he? When he remembers nights like this, he takes hot long showers and then regrets them because Jacob finds out. His body shakes with fear and anxiety, and it is all so much that it makes him sick for days. He doesn’t eat for days because of nights like these, the client before this was a week ago and he fucked him so hard he had nail scratches all over his legs and back. He can still feel the pain if he focuses.

His empty stomach and his fucked up mind can’t seem to agree on what is good for him. 

He did this for food money, but now he’s not hungry anymore.

  
Now he has enough money for two days, maybe two or three meals, four if he eats something cheap. So he saves his money and decides to walk home instead of taking the subway. He was fortunate enough to live close by the motel, he speed walked and arrived in twenty minutes. Jacob was sitting on the couch, with a bag of chips in between his legs as he watched some reality show. Tomas knew there was no point of being quiet, he was in deep shit for not calling his foster dad. He walked down the little, crowded hallway to which led him to his room.

“Where the hell were you?”, Jacob asked but his tone was the opposite of concerned.

“With a client, I needed money for tomorrow”

Jacob was more than aware of what Tomas, his underage foster son, did for cash. Did he care? 

“Thought you said you quit since you be working with Mr. Bigshot Tony Stark and his blondie”, he mocked.

“I will, but I need to eat. I don’t get paid until the end of the month”, all that Tomas wanted to do was take a shower and sleep, but no Jacob decides to get out of the couch.

“How much you make tonight?”, he arched his eyebrow and eyed his front pockets. 

“$150”, he learned at the beginning not to lie to his foster parents, no matter how ‘nice’ they are. Tomas hands him the cash and sees that Jacob is equally as impressed.

“Dang kid, I’m surprised you still walking, he must’ve fucked you hard”, he smiled crookedly, he pushed the boy to the wall and turned his around. Tomas knew what was coming and managed to still his head hard enough for it not to bang against the wood. The older man pressed himself against Tomas and thrusted at a slow pace. He reached towards his zipper and pulled it down, Tomas didn’t want to look down and just stare at the wood in front of him. He did feel what couldn’t be confused with money enter his pants and then followed by Jacob’s hand. He used the money to rub him through his underwear. “I’ll let you keep the money only because I’m feeling nice today. Go shower you stink of cum, fucking slut”, he ripped his hand away from Tomas and shoved him inside the restroom that was next to his room. 

When he entered there shower his skin was a normal shade of white, he had meat in him with no bones sticking out. When he got out, he was terribly pale that he made himself sick. He regretted not eating on his way home. He poked the side of his ribs, although he had been working hard to gain weight his ribs were still showing. 

He doesn’t know why he tries at this point, nothing works out for him, the stupid internship will blow up on his face and he knows it. He should’ve listened to the man in the elevator and quit at the moment, but no he had to have determination. 

Tomas can’t stand seeing himself like this, who needs reality anyways? 

He relaxes and focuses, with his eyes closed he inhales and exhales and does that two more times. He opens his eyes and sees what should be there but can’t. 

With wet hair he lays on the floor with two blankets underneath him and one over him, he attempts to fluff up his pillow but what a joke that was. If his dreams were better than his reality he would never wake up. But he wakes every morning bathed in his own sweat. 

He showers, and throws in his second no nicest outfit, which was no different from the day before but now he had to laundry as he was out of nice clothing. He leaves with two pieces of toast in hand and walks to the subway. You can tell a lot from a person by the way they walk or how fast they are walking. Tomas pays attention to that, and wonders what do people think of him when he passes by. Is it obvious that he sucks dick for a living? Can they see through his magic and call child services on Jacob? Do they question his poor taste in clothes, not realizing that that is all he could afford? 

What do his bosses think of him? They know of his situation, do they pity him? _Oh fuck,_ Tomas curses inside his head.


	4. Chapter IV

Tuesday was tough. 

Not just because it was a Tuesday it was because he was not prepared to attend five meetings with no breaks in between them. He was given the schedule from Mrs. Potts PA, and Tomas soon realized that there was no difference between them. He was to take important notes of each meeting and tell Mrs. Potts the most vital points made. He was sent numerous PowerPoints and studied them as Mrs Potts told him to do so. 

It has only been the second day, and he has already complimented on quitting four times. Not because he hates his new job, but because he has been shoved, pushed, tripped, and spat all day long. The physical harassment continued on even in front of their bosses, making Tomas seem like an utter tumbling idiot. Worst part, there was nothing he could do because he needed this job to stay away from the streets. 

When the time came for his lunch break, the cafe wasn’t even an option. _Fuck-_ he didn’t want to waste his money when we could just get free food, he down at the lobby pondering his cheapest food options. He let his head fall back against the glass behind were he stood- _fuck._

“Mr. Rey, shouldn’t you be at lunch right now”, out of all people in the biggest building in New York he always had to come across Mrs Potts. 

“Yeah- I was on my way actually”, his smile to her pained him, he didn’t want to lie to her, but why would he tell her the truth? He was moving pass Mrs Potts and Happy when she called him.

“Are you okay”, her mother’s instincts kicked in and placed her hand on his forehead. He felt fine, but she could tell he wasn’t.

“Of course I am”, he saw her hand coming yet he flinch as she touched him. 

She saw the lie right through him, “Alright, just makes sure you get a big lunch. Don’t want you passing out”

She and Happy left. He wonders what would’ve happened if he had said no. Sent home with little pay was most probable. His phone started to vibrate in his pocket, he saw that I was JARVIS. 

He frowned and answered, “...Hello”

“Good afternoon, Mr Rey, Mr Stark needs your assistance right away”

“What- but it’s not his day today, Mrs Potts will kill me if I-“

“Mr. Stark, will take care of that. Your car has arrived, sir”, the AI said.

“What car-“, a black Mercedes stopped right in front of the building with a man stepping out to hold open the car door. “Never mind I see it”

He got in the car and the driver fought his way through traffic. As Tomas fought to keep his stomach quiet. One of them won their fight. When they got to Mr. Stark’s house, he thanked the driver and went up to the door. Before he could knock the door opened by itself, Tomas stuck his head through first finding that no one opened the door.

“Mr. Stark is in the garage”, the AI’s voice came out of nowhere scaring Tomas.

“Jesus, JARVIS”, he held his chest.

“Sorry, sir. I will lead you to Mr. Stark if you follow my directions”

Tomas did and found Mr. Stark in a lab table wearing goggles, using tools to control a small robot that was placing an incredible small chip into his Iron Man suit. Mr. Stark couldn’t hear him come in because of the earbuds. 

Tomas looked around and saw all the previous Iron Man suits displayed around the room. Some were broken, scratched, missing body parts, one was missing its lower half, but they were all shown with pride. 

“Like what you see”, Mr. Stark sucked up behind him.

“Jesus”, Tomas jumped and turned around quickly, he stepped away from him. Whenever he was that close to a man nothing he liked happened. 

“I wouldn’t do that sir, the boy is very jumpy”, AI added.

“I can see that”, he looked annoyed with the AI. “Sorry about that kid”, he laugh softly.

“Oh, that’s all right, don’t worry about it. So what was it you needed my help in, Mr. Stark?”, he jumped quickly into business.

“Oh, yes, well today I’m having Mrs. Potts and her family over for dinner and I was wondering if you could help me out”, they walked out of the garage and into the living space, “I want to give my hubby a break from cooking dinner every night, and I need a distraction. So what do you say kid, you game?”

He wasn’t. He didn’t want to cook dinner. He doesn’t know how to turn on a stove, all his food comes from the microwave or a can. He was the least qualified person to help him out with his fancy dinner. And to top it, he has two more powerpoints to go over to discuss with Mrs. Potts tomorrow. He truly can’t waste any time. 

But what was he going to say? No? 

“Of course I’ll help you, sir”

“Great, this is why I like you kid”, he walked to the fridge and started getting all the ingredients out. “Now all we need to figure out is where the meat is. JARVIS, turn on the stove to the stove to the correct temperature that the cookbook said”

“Yes, sir. You should prepare all the correct pots and pan for this, sir”

“Yes, yes, on my way. Tom, I need you to wash all the ingredients and cut them up and place them in this bowls”, Mr. Stark open a cabinet and placed five empty bowls on the counter.

“Okay”, Tomas nodded but as he watched Mr. Stark franctantly pace around the kitchen to find the right pan and pots, his anxiety rose. He felt useless not helping his boss out more. “Do you need help with the pots and pans?”

“Nah, as long as you cut everything up, I’ll give you a pay raise”, he joked.

Tomas chuckled and shook his head, he washed his hands and all the ingredients. Now, Tomas has never in his life used a knife to cut food. His foster parents never trusted him with a knife or a fork, so he would eat his meals with only a spoon. If he told this to Mr. Stark, he would think him incompetent, so he kept his mouth shut and tried to figure it out by himself. 

Behind him, Mr. Stark was still trying to figure out which pot to use to the spaghetti. He would eventually figure it out after asking JARVIS which pot to use. After some cursing and apologizing for his language, he got to boil the water and place the spaghetti for it to cook. Tomas was still struggling cut up garlic for the bread, “At what time is dinner?”

“Um…”, Tony looked at his watch, “Two hours, but don’t worry my kids should be here any minute and then you’re free to go”, he went to the garage for a moment and brought back Iron Man’s arm piece. He took the meat package outside and blasts with fire to defrost it, Tomas stood there wide eyed at the ethics his boss use. 

“It’s not the worst thing you’re going to see him do”, Leon spoke as he popped as asparagus in his mouth.

Tomas again jumped, _what is it with this family and scaring people?_ “My god-“

Leon laugher, “Hi there, Leon Stark”, he smiled brightly and brought out his hand.

Tomas dropped the knife and shook the boys hand, “Tomas Rey, your father’s intern”

“Cool, cool, well-“, Leon glance back at his father who was trying to not burn the meat completely, “Good luck, kid”, he slap his back and walked out of the kitchen to what Tomas thinks is his bedroom. 

Tony came in with the meats defrost and already half way cooked. “Was that my kid?”

“Yeah, Leon, he left just now”, he went back to cutting the ingredients.

Tony dropped the meats and called his son to come back to the kitchen. Tomas heard the door open and close and two more voices came through. He was feeling very out of place, his hands were sweating which is common for him but the last thing he wanted was for the knife to slip. He dropped the knife real quick when he heard his name being called. 

“Tom, this are my children. Leon, Morgan and little Peter”, he patted their heads playfully when he called their names. Tomas smiled and shook their hands. “Kiddos, he is going to be working with me for the entire summer. So if you could please behave yourselves I will truly appreciate it. Be nice to him, he will be spending much of his time here, make him feel welcomed is all I am asking”

“Do you think we are going to scare him away?”, Morgan asks with a frown.

“Yes”, Tony says without hesitation.

All three children stood there agaped at their father, “Well I have never in my 13 years of living-“

“Peter calm down, and pick up a knife to help the kid”, Tony cut short his you best son’s dramatics and passed him a knife. “You two, set up the table for nine people, set up the best China we have. Four champagne glasses-“

“Can I drink?”, Leon sparked up.

Tony’s eyes widen and threw his son the rag he had over shoulder, he mouthed _shut up!._ He turned and smiled to Tomas innocently. 

Tomas shrugged, “I didn’t hear anything”, he obviously did. He sensed that someone was staring at him and saw that Morgan was not in a critical way but more as study guide. She sighed and dragged her father out of his view. Tomas was done cutting everything now and saw that the spaghetti was ready, JARVIS told him what to do from there on. Including what spices to add to the meat and what pan to use. 

“So then are you like his personal PA, but they can’t call it that because you’re a minor?”, Leon besides asks as he continues to eat asparagus.

“Can I have chicken nuggets instead?”, Peter pulled at his shirt at his other side. 

“Um ask your dad about that”, he answered Peter and turned to Leon, “for legal reasons I can’t confirm nor deny that, sorry”. Peter ran off to his dad.

“Fair”, he sat on top of the counter, watching Tomas do all the cooking, “What school do you go to?”

Tomas stopped dead tracks and embrace the thought of lying to him. All three Stark children wore their uniforms still, they went to the most prestigious school in the city, Dalton School, he could tell my the crest in his sweatshirt and schools colors. 

He hesitated, opened and closed his mouth several times before he gather the courage to speak. “United Heights”, he said under his breath.

“United Heights! That’s bull, a kid like you could never go to go to the school. Didn’t that school have have like three shooting scares?”

He had no tone of superiority but was actually astonished. Tomas took out his school ID and gave it to Leon, and regret is all his eye can express. He looks up and grips the the card, “I’m sorry I just thought every kid that goes there are- well you know”

“Is bound to become a future felon”, Tomas finished the sentence with humorous tone.

Leon gulped, “Well- yeah, but now I don’t think that ‘cause obviously you were chosen for a good reason”

At that moment, Tomas thought back at yesterday’s altercation in the interns cafe. He should ask his bosses if Emily and Rhea were right, was it out of pity? 

“Yeah, I guess so”

After that, Leon saw the time and saw that Pepper and his other dad were going to be here at any minute. Tomas was almost done with the steaks, and the side dishes were done. 

“Have you ever cooked before?”, Leon asked as he tasted the spaghetti.

“Never even turned on a stove”, he laughed nervously.

“Well this is fucking good dude- shit”

“Leon, language please”, Mr. Stark appeared with Morgan next to him, he took the fork from his son and tasted the spaghetti, “but he’s right, this is ducking good, atta boy”, he gave Tomas a high five.

“Dad and Pepper are going to be here in twenty minutes”, Morgan announced.

“Dad, please I want chicken nuggets”, Peter hugged his dad fiercely. 

“No”, all three members of the Stark family responded. 

“Tom, you are done here. My kiddos will take over”, Tony took the utensils from Tomas and pushed him to the living space and sat him on the couch. “Relax, kiddo. Morgan help me serve the plates”

Tomas looked at the time and saw that it was already 6 o’clock, _Jacob is not gonna be happy if I come home with no money._ He was going to excuse himself out of their home when Mr. Stark handed him a glass container with food in it.

“Oh no, Mr Stark that’s not necessary”, he pushed it back.

“Kid, don’t me fight with this, besides you did most of the work even though it was supposed to be teamwork”, he pushed it towards his chest and left out there until Tomas took it. 

“Thank you, sir. It’s getting pretty late and I need to walk to the subway”

“As if I would let you walk out this late, there’s a car waiting to take you home outside”

They walked towards the front door and Tomas saw that it was the same one that brought him here. “Thank you again, Mr. Stark”, he brought out his hand for him to shake but instead he brought him into a hug. 

Hugs weren’t a thing in his books, he only seem them with couples or real families. None of his foster families ever hugged him, not once. Jacob would rather dump his head in the bathtub and hold his head there until he passes out than to hug him. So imagine what Tomas thoughts were as Mr. Stark embrace him, it wasn’t fierce nor weak, he was longing for something or someone.

The whole time Tomas anticipated for the worst, Mr. Stark could just grab his ass right now and no one would notice. Or he could drag him to the small closet behind him and do as he pleased. Dark theories he knows, but since he was five the dark has been nothing short of an old time friend.

Important to say that Tomas stood still during the duration of the hug. He never once thought of hugging him back, which he will regret later on. He was beyond confused on why his boss would do this, but it’s noteworthy that Tomas oddly felt familiar to the hug. As if he had already hugged him before. He knew the feeling already, his scent was familiar, his strong arms around him were as if protecting him again. It was all like dejavú but he was certain that it was not that. Mr. Stark let him go and grabbed his shoulders, he studied the boys face and looked defeated when he couldn’t figure it out. If Tomas was anything it was uncomfortable. 

He took a step back and awkwardly nodded trying to avoid eye contact. “Bye”, he scurried off to the car. 

His heart was beating at an incredible speed and he couldn’t catch his breath. He was thankful for that black window that parted the car. He could have his moment alone. He eventually evened his breathing before it could become an attack, but he still needed a shower pronto. 

The Stark and the Potts/ Nichols families gathered together on the dinner table. Loki had arrived with Pepper as they both had attended the same meeting, Pepper’s husband, Elliot arrive with their young children Harmony and Henry soon after. A rule was made by Elliot, no business talk. A rule that everyone agreed with looking at Tony and Pepper and they agreed, they both needed a break. They began to eat and chat about the kids and old school gossip, but the main topic was the food.

“Tony, there’s no way you cooked this, be honest, who did you hire?”, Pepper hummed as she had another bit of the steak.

Tony laughed, “So you’re saying that there is no way I can cook up a meal”

“Love, I know for a fact that didn’t know how to turn a stove before we meet”, Loki teased him, making the room laugh at the revelation. 

The Stark children made slight eye contact knowing well to keep quiet, they couldn’t help but laugh the hardest as their dad’s remark. 

“Very funny, I’m glad everyone is taking turns at my flaws”, he drank the rest of his champagne and stood to get another bottle. 

Leon whispered to Peter, “How much trouble will he be in if we tell on him?”

Peter whispered back, “A lot, so be quiet. I have unapproved plans with Ned this weekend, don’t ruin this for me”, the boys stopped when Loki cleared his throat. They saw their father glare at them with an arched eyebrow. 

“Sorry”, in unison they answered. 

“Mommy, I want more spaghetti”, little Henry spoke lowly to his mom, but everyone heard him. Pepper looked at Loki to ask but Loki had stood up. 

“I got it, don’t worry”, he grabbed the boy’s plate and went to the kitchen where Tony was trying to choose what champagne to use next. 

“Babe, I can’t decide”

“I’m sure whatever you use will be enough”, he poured more spaghetti with sauce on top of it and he grabbed more garlic bread for the table. “Anthony, who really cooked all of this?”

“You can’t believe that I went out of my way to cook a delightful meal for my family”, he left the bottles at the counter and wrapped one arm around Loki’s waist to kiss his neck tenderly. 

“I know your selfless acts and sacrifices for the family, cooking is not one of them”, he turned around to Tony who was still holding him.

Tony let go of him and got serious for a second, a look of guilt that Loki knew too well. It didn’t take him long to figure out, “Anthony, please do not tell me you use the boy-”

Tony clasped his hand over Loki’s mouth, “Ssshhh”, he turned to see that Pepper was too busy eating dinner, “Okay, yes I did but only because I couldn’t do it myself”

“How idiotic can you be? You can’t do that”

“I know, I know, I wasn’t thinking at first but now that I’m looking back I might have taken advantage of the situation”

“You think?”, Loki glared with a disapproving tone.

“I’ll talk to him tomorrow and apologize, but I did give him food”, he gave a thumbs up as if that would make the matter lessen. 

Loki stared at his husband and said, “You’re an idiot”, he stepped out of the kitchen with the food. Tony followed suit and poured the adults the champagne. 

The topic of the food never came up again thankfully, but Tony has his mind drawn to something else for the rest of the night. He looked towards his daughter and thought back at their conversation. He can’t believe he hugged the kid, and for so long, no wonder he left so fast. He cringe and felt so embarrassed. All because he listened to his daughter. 

_ “Dad, who the hell is that kid?!”, Morgan whispered, but her eyes wanted to yell. _

_ “I just introduced you to him-” _

_ “Dad, please tell me you see it” _

_ “See what?”, Tony frowned looking back at the kitchen. _

_ Morgan squinted her eyes and shook her head, “You have to be kidding me, he looks just like dad” _

_ “WHAT?” _

_ “Shhhh”, she clasped her hand over her dad’s mouth, “How can you not see it? He is almost the mirror image of dad, hair, eyes, jawline, the way he walks, shit they have the same tone of voice” _

_ “Morgan, let me stop you right there. Whatever it was you were going to say, don’t and don’t ever mention it to your father. You can’t be saying things like this when the anniversary is so close, do you know what it would do to your father. It took us years, Morgan, years to let go of what happened. Don’t bring it up again” _

_ “I know that it hurt, that it stills hurts, but come on, dad-”, she tried to plead her father. _

_ “No, no buts, no or’s, no nothing Morgan. This family has suffered enough-” _

_ “But he looks just like him, you can’t deny that”, she tried to make her case. _

_ “That doesn’t mean anything, there are so many men that look like me but we aren’t making assumptions that we’re family. Yes, I have noticed that he looks like your dad but for the sake of my sanity I’m not going beyond than what I see and so should you”, Tony made his voice firm, but his eyes pleaded his daughter to stop.  _

_ She wouldn’t quit that easy, she was a Stark after all, “Whatever”, and walked back to the kitchen. Her dad was right, if she brought up the idea to her dad, Loki, and she was wrong he would be heartbroken. She will keep quiet until the anniversary passes.  _

On the other side of the city, The Bronx, Tomas had brought the glass container straight home thinking that it would be enough to satisfy Jacob. He was utterly wrong, and still got his daily beating for getting home late and with no money. He was sent to the shower to clean up the blood off his face and then come to have dinner. He did as he was told, and saw that Jacob had surprisingly served him the food, and it was laid out perfectly for him. For a minute he thought he had had poisoned the food, but Jacob needed the child care money to keep a roof over him. 

“So did you suck his dick or something? How did you get this fancy food?”, Jacob shoved a fork full of spaghetti in his mouth.

“No, he asked me to help him cook dinner for his family and well I didn’t know how to say no. That’s why I got here late”

“Trying to make me say sorry for knocking you down, well guess what? If you had fucking learn how to say no, you wouldn’t be in this much trouble”, and he left it at that, neither spoke after that, Tomas learned never to speak after Jacob had finished talking entirely. He learned when to stop. 

After dinner they had a smoke outside in the firescape, Tomas was peacefully enjoying the summer breeze as the sun was in the last stages of setting. Jacob grabbed him by the forearms unexpectedly and yelled at his face, “Did you suck his dick? Huh?”

Tomas dropped his cigarette, he tried to keep a blank face as he answered, “No, I didn’t suck his dick, and if he asks I will say no”

“You fucking better not”, he threw him on the cold firescape and straddle him. He yanked his arm and placed the cigarette butt on his wrist, he didn’t stop stop until the cigarette had reached the end. Tomas bit into this other wrist to contain his agonizing scream, he panted and held his wrist close to his chest when Jacob left him there. 

He stood up and went to his room, he sighed and ran his hand over it. Green light appeared and it had been covered, he still felt the second degree burn aching in his wrist but at least it was gone. He regrets not running to the restroom. 

**Author's Note:**

> i've had this idea for months but i just never had time to write it. so guys let know how you feel about it, as you can tell my the tags it's not going to be kid friendly. i hope you all enjoy it.


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